Sewage disposal plant



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May l5, 1951 A. YoNNl-:R

SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANT Filed April 9, 1945 "Mam/70M Jnvenar May 15, 1951 A. YONNER 2,553,228

SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANT Filed April 9, 1945 2 Sheets-sheet 2 Patented Vay l5, 1,951

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANT Andr Yonner, Zurich, Switzerland Application April 9, 1945, Serial No. 587,234 In Switzerland December 21, 1943 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires December 21, 1963 7 Claims.

for the necessary conduits to the sewage plant.

Frequently also the large area requisite for such plants is not available in inhabited parts unless at correspondingly high prices, thus increasing' still further the costs of the plant as a whole. All these disadvantages are completely eliminated by the present invention.

The invention relates to a sewage plant for mechanical clarication and biological treatment of domestic and industrial sewage water as well as for the digesting of sludge. The plant consists of at least one self-contained structural body comprising in its lower part an installation for mechanical clarification and for digesting of sluge as well as a secondary sedimentation tank while in the top part a trickling lter installation for the biologicaltreatment is placed.

For installations serving a smaller number of inhabitants the one-body-type is advantageously chosen, in which the trickling lter for biological treatment is placed in a closed and self-contained space above the installation for mechanical clariiication and for digesting of sludge. The installation thus forms one single and closed body which is provided with a device for forced aeration.

The essential advantages of this onebodytype may be described as follows:

Due to its compact design the construction costs are considerably reduced. For the same reason the area required is reduced to a minimum, thus also reducing the costs for the purchase of the building site. Due to the fact that the whole installation is located in an inclosed body all the odorous substances are absorbed in the trickling ilter. Annoyance by stench or illes is avoided so that any objection to construct such plant within inhabited quarters is done away with. This again allows to shorten and thereby reduce the costs of the sewers. Thanks to the type forming a closed body, freezing of the sewage water during the cold season can be easily avoided. The plant requires only a lminimum of attention thus greatly reducing the service costs. On the other hand the purication effect is at least equal to that obtained by other so far known sewage purification processes. From the building point of view the plant is easy to construct and its architectural and esthetic impression is absolutely satisfactory which statement will in many instances not be applicable to sewage plants so far in use.

In certain cases where the parting line of the eiiluents separates the township in a way that two different drainage nets are required each of the two nets can be treated separately by a onebody-plant whereby expensive and extensive sewers or pump-Works are avoided.

If the quantity of sewage water is too large as to be treated in one single body, it is well possible to construct two or more one-bodyplants side by side. Such plants consisting of two one-body-units contain two through-now digestors, two trickling lters and two secondary sedimentation tanks. Now it is a known fact that the effect of two small digestors and secondary sedimentation tanks is not equal to the effect of one single but twice as large digestor or secondary sedimentation tank. On the other hand a subdivision of the trickling lter installation is without influence on the purifying eiect. Therefore it is preferable, wherever a single one-body-plant is not sucient, to adopt a solution with two such units, the lower part of the one containing a through-flow digestor, the lower part of the other the secondary sedimentation tank, while each of the two bodies contain in their top part a trickling iilter installation. This solution represents the so-called two-bodyplant.

The larger capacity of the through-flow digestor and of the secondary sedimentation tank promotes the process oi digesting and that of the secondary sedimenting; also the operation of the plant is considerably simplied and the construction costs are reduced. At the same time the scope of application of this two-body-sewagetype is considerably extended. While, under normal conditions, a single unit is suiicient for a community of 5-10,000 inhabitants the construction of a two-body-plant will allow to treat and completely purify the sewage water of towns with up to 30,060 inhabitants. An installation consisting of twice or thrice two-body-units will therefore be suiiicient to effect the sewage purification of Q30-90,000 inhabitants, thus ensuring for all middle-sized communities an eicient solution of their sewage problem at much reduced costs.

There are still further advantages to be derived from this kind of plant. For instance, a modication may be applied as regards the throughflow digestor. This latter was, as described above, to be placed in the lower part of the first unit and consisted of a sedimentation tank with digestor without lseparation of these two ele-` ments. It is of course possible to substitute this by a two-storied tank, i. e. by a plant entirely separating the twogelements. i

Furthermore, a plant, as described above, could only treat the sewage during dry weather because, due to the high quantity of sewage water per day and inhabitant, the dimensions of the subterranean parts are, for instance 'for a community of 10,000 inhabitants, already7 Vso large that it would not be possible to treat rain water in the same unit. On the other hand the vrain water treatment is for sewerage systems of the mixed type (i. e. treating vsewage and Vrain water) an absolute necessity. uIt is a fact that during dry weather periods solid parts of the sewage are liable to settle within the sewers. During subsequent lheavy rains these sediments are being rinsed out, thus transporting large quantities of A sludge into the sewage treatment plant. It is therefore necessary to construct, by the side of the plant `an open rain water tank which, during rains, automatically puts itself into service. The sludge sediment vof the 'rain water tank is then simply pumped into the digestor. In order to avoid the sewage water in the rain tank to become putrid during a'lon'g spell of dry weather the eluent of the plant is led Vinto the-rain water basin. On the other 4hand the possibility exists to combine the vrain water basin with the secondary sedimentation tank. The volumeY capacity of this clarier is generally not larger than one-third of the total cubic contents ofthe through-flow 4digestor of a two-'storied tank. Seeing that the foundation depth of the throughow digestor will usually be lbetween -fa'nd 'l0 metres it will, in most cases, be necessary to reduce the level of subsoil water. If such reduction of level will 'have to` beeiected already 4for the digestor it can, without large'eXtra costs, be extended also to lthe foundation trench ofthe secondary sedimentation tank. It will tlfiereflo're be possible to give to the secondary sedimentation ltank approximately the same size as to the through-now digestor or to a two-storied installation and to utilize the surplus space for rain treatment.

This is e'iected simply b y providing in the canal leading to the through-flow digestor or tothe two-storied tank an over-flow, the latter setting itself automatically into function as soon as the maximum dry weather influentis exceededthus leading the surplus water direct -into the secondary sedimentation tank. Practice has proved that by introducing both raw sci-called rain water and the humus containing dischargef the trickling filters into the same basin,i. e. into the enlarged secondary sedimentation tank, an excellent clarification eiect is obtained because the locculent sludge of the biological installationyis, due to the heavy sludge particles ofthe raw sewage, immediately drawn into the depth where it rapidly settles. The dimensions of the clarification tank are large'enough to obtain, during dry weather, sedimentationA within'some hours, thus ensuring an extremely high clarification effect of the biologically treated sewage. The

sludge deposited within the secondary sedimen- `4 tation tank can simply be transported into the common digestor by repumping.

A further alternative is to simply provide, instead of the through-flow digestor or the twostoried tank a preliminary clariiier and a separate' digestor. This solution has the advantage to allow, for larger plants, to greatly reduce the cubic contents of the digestor insomuch as the sludge can be heated by means of methane gas produced within the digestor.

The accompanying sketch shows, by way of example, schematically four installations for mechanical clarification and biological treatment of domestic and industrial sewage according to the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows a vertical section through a onebody-sewage-plant with sewage through-now in the digestor.

Fig. 2 shows a vertical section through a twobody-plant, the rst unit containing a throughflow digestor, the other a secondary sedimentation and rain water tank.

Fig. 3 shows a vertical section through `a twobody-plant containing in the one unit a twostoried tank, in the second a secondary sedimentation and rain water tank.

Fig. 4 shows a vertical section through a twobody-plant consisting of two 'units with separate digestor. Y

With regard to the one-body-sewage-plant shown in Fig. 1 the mechanical clarification is effected in a cylindrical-shaped through-flow digestor l the latter` receiving the sewage through a conduit lIn the centre of the through-how digestor VI a funnel-shaped secondary sedimentation tank 3 Vis provided. This part of the plant is covered by a dome-shaped vault d which llatter serves as the bottom of 'the trickli'ng lter 5 placed above it. The mechanically clarified sewage is transported into a pressure-pipe v' by means of a pump 6, thence toa sprinkler, shown inthe sketch as a rotary sprinkler 8 and subsequently distributed over the surface of the trickling filter 5. The sewage water trickles through the filter material of the trickling filter E where it is, in the usual way, biologically oxydi'zed. The sewage water leaving the trickling filter 5 'is collected in an annular channel 9 and thence led through a conduit i@ into the secondary clarification'tank 3 where it is freed from the suspended particles of humus sludge. The puriiied sewage proceeds from the secondary clarification tank 3 by means of an over-flow into a conducting channel Il placed around the tank and thence through va conduit H into the brook, river, lake or'sea as the case may be.

The Water level of the secondary sedimentation tank is arranged ir'. a way that the sludge deposited within the 'iunn'el-shapedbasin is evacuated by static pressure through a-pipe i3 and lI3V which latter is provided with a sluic'e -Valve le;

the sludge can then be distributed'over the floatl ing scum layer of the digestor I. Thefpump 6 for evacuating the "sewage out of the digestor i into the pressure pipe 1 is placed within a'watertight chamber it. The space destineidffor the trickling lter 5 and 'placed above the "idoineshaped vault 4 is closedbyan air-tight ro'f lil.

1n the center of-the "tackling filter e la vertical lshaft I9 is placed into `which fa v"-'s'uc'tl'hpipe 2c is led moaned inthe lvertexeffthe deineshaped vault, ln this suction-'pipe 52T!) -amoto'r operated fan 2l is placed which continually- 4sucks air :from the Yspacefabove the lwater Vlevel of the digestor i. This air, :which leiite'rs'-'th1'"`i.ighthe vertical shaft |9 into the space above the tickling filter 5, is pressed through the trickling filter and can only escape after passing through the outlet openings 22 located in the body-wall. Thus not only the air quantity requisite for the biological oxydation, but at the same time the gases liberated in the course of anaerobic fermentation, especially hydrogen-sulphide, are oxydized by the so-called sulphur bacteria; therefore the air which passes through the outlet openings 22 into the open cannot cause any stench. Due to the Acontinuous renewal of air within the space above the digestor I diiculties in connection with the yoperation of the plant are avoided.

In the sewage plant shown in Fig. 2, and consisting of two units, a through-flow digestor 23' is located in the bottom part of the first unit, the digestor being subdivided by star-shaped partition walls 24 (these walls are arranged in a similar manner as the star-shaped walls of Fig. 1) into compartments. The sewage flows into the first of these compartments through a conduit 25 and thence over an overflow into the next compartment and so forth until the last compartment is reached from which it is evacuated through a suction conduit 26 by means of a pump 21 and thence sent into an ascending pressure conduit 29 respectively 33 and 33. When the disposal plant is in operation, the sewage will ow over the scum board and the overflow rather than directly through the sludge compartment at the bottom of digestor 23 since the accumulating sludge will clog any openings after a time so short that it can be disregarded in practice. At the bottom of the through-flow digestor 23 its compartments lead into a common sludge sedimentation space, whence the sludge can be pumped out through a pipe 29.

In the lower part of the second unit a secondary sedimentation tank 30 is provided. This tank is over-dimensioned and serves to receive, during heavy rain weather, the quantity of water exceeding the maximum dry weather discharge, i. e. the so-called rain water. For this purpose an over-flow 25 is provided in the conduit 25 which starts its function automatically as soon as the sewage water exceeds a certain maximum, the surplus being led directly by a pipe 25 to the secondary sedimentation tank 30.

The upper parts of both units are constructed exactly alike, namely corresponding to the upper vpart of the one-body-plant described above. The lower parts of the two units are covered by a dome-shaped vault each 3| and 3i which each form the bottom of a trickling filter 32 and 32 the latter being covered by an air-tight roof. The conduits 33 and 33" branch olf from the pressure-pipe-line 28 and lead to the rotary sprinklers 34 and 34 where the water is distributed over the trickling filters 32 and 32. The two trickling filters 32 and 32 encompass a vertical center shaft 35 and 35' respectively. These shafts each communicate with an outlet pipe 31 and 31 respectively. Motor operated fans 36 and 36' are mounted at the lower end of shafts 35 and 35 respectively. The fans 36 and 36 continually suck air out of the air spaces above the through-flow digestor 23 or respectively the secondary clarification tank 30 and the air is led to the trickling filters 32 and 32 to be pressed through these filters. Only after having passed through them the air can escape into the open by the outlet openings 38 and 38 provided in the walls of the two lters. Thus the trickling filters 32 and 32 receive the necessary air for the bio- The discharge of the trickling filters 32 and'32' i is collected in an annular channel 39 and 39 and directed through conduits 4l] and 4D to a com mon entrance pipe 4| located within arcentral diving shaft 42 in the secondary sedimentation tank 3D. From the latter the now completely clarified and purified sewage water mixed with the clarified rain water passes over an overow into a channel 43 whence it is sent through a conduit 44 to aA brook, river, lake or sea. A pipe 45 is provided in the secondary sedimentation tank 39 through which deposits of sludge are repumped into the through-flow digestor 23.

The sewage plant shown in Fig. 3 and composed of two units differs from the previously described arrangement only inasmuch as in the lower part of the rst unit a two-storied tank 43 and 41 a so-called Imhoff tank is provided instead of vthe through-flow digestor 23. The sewage water introduced into the plant through the conduit 25 arrives first in the clarifier 46 from which the sludge automatically slides into the digestor 41 placed below it. After having passed the clarifier 4S the sewage water is led by an overflow 43' into a pump-shaft 48 from vrhichnit is evacuated and distributed over the trickling filters. Hence clarifier 46 serves to separate sludge and water. All other parts of the first unit as well as the whole seco-nd unit are in absolute conformity with the arrangement shown in Fig. 2 and have already been described above. Therefore the reference marks used in Fig. 2 are also applied in Fig. 3 for the corresponding parts.

With regard to the arrangement of a sewage plant shown in Fig. 4 the whole second unit as well as the upper part of the first unit are again in perfect conformity with the arrangements shown in Figs. 2 and 3, therefore the same refl erence marks have again been applied for the corresponding parts. In the lower part of the first unit simply a preliminary clarication tank 49 has been provided instead of the through-flow digestor 23 or respectively of the two-storied tank` 4t and 41 the sewage water being directed to the preliminary claricatcr by a pipe-line 553 out of which sludge deposits are evacuated by a pipe 5l and sent by a pump 52 to a separate digestor 53. The sludge collected in the secondary clarier 39 is also pumped by the same pump into the separate digestor 53.

What I claim is:

l. In a sewage disposal plant for disposal of domestic and industrial sewage water, in coinbination a substantially closed first tank, the bottom section of said tank forming a digestor for primary mechanical clarification and digestion of raw sewage, conduit means for feeding raw sewage into said digestor, a second substantially closed tank, the bottom section of said second tank forming a nal settling chamber, conduit means for discharging clarified sewage water from said settling chamber, a trickling lter for biological treatment of sewage disposed in the top section of each tank above the digestor and the settling chamber respectively, ,conduit and :pump means for rfeeding mechanically .clare lied and digested sewage from the digestor to Y-the top of each oi said filters, Vand conduit means for feeding the biologically ,treated sewage water -trickling through the iilters into the :settling chamber.

i2. A sewage disposal plant as .described ,in claim 1, Vin .combination Vwith overflow means included in the conduit means for :feeding 'raw sewage into the digestor, and-conduit means -conf meeting said overflow means with the settling chamber for feeding-raw sewage now-ing through the overflow means directly into vthe settling chamber.

3. A sewage disposal plant asV described in claim .2, wherein the section `of the second .tank forming the nal settling chamber has a larger capacity than thesection -of the rst tank forming .the digest-or.

4. A sewage ldisposal plant las described 1in claim '-1, wherein partition --walls :subdivide ysaid 'digestor n several compartments, each communicating witha succeeding one through an over,- ilow, the conduit -means for feeding raw sewage into the digestor issuing into the 4iirst compartment, the conduit -means for withdrawing sewage from the digestor :communicating with the last compartment, a sludge -collecting chamber extending through Athe'bottom portion of lall of vsaid compartments.

vi5. A sewage disposal plant as described in claim v1, -in combination with airconduit means within each tank extending through the Arespective iilterland leading -rom lan airspace above the digestor and the settling chamber respectively to an airspace above the respective iilter, and suction ymeans disposed within each Vof said air conduit means and arranged -to suck air Afrom-the digestor airspace and the settling chamber airspace respectively into therespective filter -airspace for forcinga downward airA current through the lters.

6. In a sewage disposal plant for vdisposal yof domestic and Aindustrial sewage water,-in combination a-substantially closed first tank, the-bottom section of ysaid tank forming a two storied tankiforprimarymechanical clarification of raw sewage-conduit means for feeding raw sewage into said two 'storied tank, conduit and Apump means fcrfwithdrawing accumulated sludge from the two storied tank, a second substantially closed tank, the bottom of said second'tank forming-a nalsettling chamber, conduit means for discharging claried sewage water from said settling chamber, a trickling vfilter for biolqgical treatment of the sewage disposed in the ter eee- -tion of the rst .andsecond .closed tank above the two storied tank and the settling chamber :respectively, conduit and pump means yfor `teerd-,ing mechanically clarified sewage from the two storied tank to the top of each of Said ltere, and conduit means for feeding the biologically treated sewage, trickling through the lters, .into the settling chamber.

7. Ina sewage disposal plant for disposal of domestic and industrial sewage water, in combination a substantially closed first tank, :the bottom section of said tank forming a primary clariiication chamber for mechanical clarification of raw sewage, conduit means for vfeeding raw sewage finto said primary clarication chamber, ,conduit and pump means for withdrawing accumulated sludge from said primary cham,- ber, ,a second substantially closed tank, the b ottom of said second tank forming a final settling chamber, -conduit ymeans for discharging .claried sewage water from said settling chamber, .a trickling i-lter for .biological treatment .of the sewage disposed in the top section of each .tank .above .the primary chamber and the final chamf Yber respectively, conduit and pump means for feed-lng mechanically claried sewage from the primarychamber tothe top of each of said filters, and .conduit means for feeding the biologically treated sewage, .trick-ling through the iilters, into the final settling chamber.

ANDR YONNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following vreferences Vare .of record in .the le of this patent:

UNITED .STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 701,827 `Anderson et al June 10, 1902 v1,339,561 Imhcff et al Dec. 6, u1921 2,073,441 Blunk Mar. 9, 1937 2,141,979 Halvorson et al. Dec. 27, 1938 V2,168,208 Jenks Aug. 1, 1939 2,209,580 Pruss et ai May 14, 1940 2,303,365 Degema Jan. 19, 1943 -2;34o,842 Rey-poid et a1, Feb. 1, 1944 2,340,848 Reybold et al. Feb. 1,1944 2,355,116@ Trebier Aug. 15, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date `16,468 Great Britain 1903 521,676 Great Britain May 28, 1940 541,560 Great IBritain Dec. "2, 1941 

